Shadows of the Wind
by SilenceConspiracy
Summary: When Shikamaru and Temari Nara's son, Shikadai, is stolen away from them, the two ninja go off on a journey to bring him back to Konoha with Shino Aburame and a young medical-nin. The retrieval squad knows nothing of Shikadai's captors other than a few assumptions, causing Shikamaru and Temari go through something they wouldn't wish on their worst enemy.
1. Prologue

His slow measured steps were only a slight indication of the fact that he was trying to take his time in getting to the office. He had gotten home late last night and had left before dawn to see towards the reconstruction of the chunin exam arena that had been destroyed by Momoshiki and Kinshiki. It was definitely troublesome, but it had to be done seeing as how it served as a monument of blood, sweat, and tears for the promoted genin. Not only did he need to oversee the reconstruction but he had to make sure that all the rubble surrounding the area had been thoroughly cleaned up. Thankfully it was only this part of the village that needed to be repaired but Shikamaru couldn't deny the fact that it would have been a lot nicer if ninja, or pseudo-gods in this case, would stop interrupting the chunin exams.

As Shikamaru made his way to the hokage's office, he took one hand out of his pocket and scratched his head, unable to help the sullen look that had befallen upon his face. Concealing one of his yawns, the head of the Nara clan barely registered the people walking past him, purposely not making eye contact. Despite becoming what he had thought he would at the naive age of twelve, the man was happy about where his life had gone. He was an adviser to the Seventh Hokage and his friend, Naruto Uzumaki. On top of that he had married a certain sarcastic Suna "princess" and they had a son together, Shikadai. Not to mention that because of all his hard work there was finally peace among the five great ninja nations and he couldn't help but to feel proud of his accomplishments. He had done so much more than just laze about as he originally dreamed about. It was all worth it though; every bit of effort he put into any project assigned to him, he knew that he was ultimately doing it for Temari and Shikadai. Shikamaru had done his best to create a world for them that was close to perfect as it could be.

These thoughts were the reason why he had a wisp of a smile upon his face as he opened the door to Naruto's office, giving himself a small boost of moral as he would probably be tasked with yet another assignment of sorts. Yet as Shikamaru took inventory of the room, the smile he previously had instantly turned into a straight line as he noted that four genin were undoubtedly bruised up and Lord Seventh's face was as grim as the day he caught his son, Boruto, cheating during the chunin exams. Placing both hands back into his pockets after shutting the door, Shikamaru stepped toward the center of the room and placed weight on one foot, thanking the heavens that despite his son's lax attitude when it came to training, it did prevent him from getting into trouble most of the time.

"So," Shikamaru said, glancing over at Boruto standing beside Sarada, raising a brow at how neither of the kids could meet his eyes. "What happened with them, Lord Seventh?" He asked, jerking his head over to Boruto, Sarada, Mitsuki and Inojin, who, Shikamaru noted, looked about ready to cry as he stood there with his pale fists trembling at his sides. Bringing his dark eyes over to Naruto, the dark haired male also noted how his friend couldn't meet his gaze either. Instead Naruto was staring down at his desk, his fingers looping through each other in the same fashion as Lady Tsunade and the Sixth Hokage, Kakashi, when both were deep in thought. When Naruto did finally raise his head, his blue eyes glittered with unmistakable empathy.

"I'm sorry," Naruto murmured, the thin line of his mouth further deepening into a frown as he looked down at his desk yet again, taking a deep breath. Shikamaru felt his heart momentarily stop before falling into the pit of his stomach. He hadn't felt such a anxious feeling like this in a long time. Even in the Fourth Shinobi War, he was somehow immune to such a devastating feeling as his main goal had been to protect and defend, causing him to ignore how he felt and instead focusing on the task at hand. In fact, now that he was thinking of it, Shikamaru swore this was similar to the feeling of guilt when he believed his poor leadership skills had possibly killed Choji Akimichi and Neji Hyuga almost two decades ago. Whatever the bad news was, Shikamaru couldn't help but turn his hands into fists as he heard the first shaky breath of Imojin trying to hide the fact that he had begun to cry. What the hell had happened?

"Shikamaru, it's Shikadai," Naruto continued, glancing at Shikamaru before looking away, and then almost immediately making eye contact once again. He respected his adviser immensely, owed him so much actually, and despite the look of shock and fear obviously etched upon his friend's face, he had to tell him face to face. While it grieved the hokage to do such a thing, he had to appear as professional and strong as possible, after all, the four genin in the room didn't deserve to see two men mourning. "It seems that Shikadai has..."


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

The Bigger the River the Bigger the Drought

He felt as if he were an empty man as he walked up to his front door, the shadows of twilight contrasting with the heavy, warm orange rays of the sun. At first he had rushed here, but as he came closer to his destination, something caused him to slow. His insides were hollow, he lacked energy and most importantly, he was at a loss of what to do. He knew what he had to do, and he was going to do it, but how could he go about it? Perhaps he had slowed down to think about it, but in reality Shikamaru knew that he was partially in denial and hoping, in some sort of inexplicable manner, everything would turn out right. If not for his sanity, then for hers. His dark eyes narrowed as he reached to open the door, knowing that it was unlocked.

As the Hokage's advisor opened the door, the scent of simmering vegetables and meat greeted him, something he hadn't had the luxury to experience in a long time. He paused however, opening the door hadn't been too hard but stepping inside proved to be the hassle. Although, if he didn't enter his home, he figured that his wife would come to see whoever had opened the door. As a man, he couldn't wait for her to come to him and preferred to bear the bad news in the comforts of his own home. Casting his gaze downward and releasing a soft sigh, he made the first step inside still unsure about how to explain everything to her.

"Shikadai, if you've ruined your appetite again then you better just hand me your video games right now," Her strong voice easily carried from the kitchen to where he stood at the door and he couldn't help but to grimly grin at his wife's empty threat. No matter how many times she scolded their son about the time he would spend on his games she had yet to take them even once. In fact, Shikamaru wasn't sure if it was because Temari had gotten his handheld and games for him in the first place and was afraid to admit to her mistake or if it was because she truly babied him too much.

"Shikamaru?" Temari questioned, and when he couldn't look at her, he felt her come to his side. Despite being a housewife for the past twelve years, she never lost her ninja training, even now her steps were as silent as his. "What happened?" A rough edge had emerged in her voice; others could confuse it for her being angry but Shikamaru had learned long ago that it only meant she was concerned. He didn't want to tell her now, not now as she was grabbing his broad shoulders and holding him up, supporting him as she always did.

Without much thought, he brought himself fully into the house and shut the door, angling away from Temari to do so. He had no choice but to look at her, and he did. His gaze traveled from her bare feet up to the short blue kimono that she commonly wore. Shikamaru's eyes didn't stop there, being resolute to the end as they connected with the pair of teal orbs, wavering at the prospect of bad news. He opened his mouth to speak, he had the words ready to come out, yet he was stopped when his entire being shuddered.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, slouching in defeat although his empty hands soon turned into fists. "Shikadai has been taken by two unidentified ninja. They originally must've wanted Boruto but cut their losses and took Shikadai instead. By what Boruto and the others described, they're bug users and Naruto has already sent Shino and Kiba out to investigate the scene, although both already have a hunch that by the description of the insects they use, they're possibly from Iwa's Kamizuru clan. Once it's been confirmed, Naruto will contact the Tsuchikage and—where are you going?" Shikamaru had done his best to say everything as fast as he could, as if that would make things easier, ignoring the contortion of anger upon Temari's face as he did so.

"Do you even have to ask?" She snapped at him, sliding on her sandals, glaring at him with all her might. Shikamaru didn't have to ask, he knew what she was planning to do and grabbed her wrist before she could open the door.

"Naruto is handling it! Depending on the Tsuchikage's answer, _if_ the rogue ninja are from Iwa in the first place, Naruto will send out a team to get him back."

"Are you kidding me, Shikamaru?" The former kunoichi shouted, pivoting on her heel to pull her wrist out of her husband's gentle grasp. "This is our son! We can't wait around and let Shikadai get even further away from us. This is not a matter to consider politically, get your head out of Naruto's ass." She seethed, opening the door and quickly taking off. Her words stung as much as whips being lashed against his bare skin.

It wasn't the fact that she had called him emotionally inadept to the precarious manner concerning his son. She of all people should know how he dealt with grief, how he would hide within himself and fill his schedule up with things he needed to accomplish by himself. He was the type of person to ignore the pain by working as hard as he could despite his lax nature. Shikamaru had never considered himself goal oriented until Asuma Sensei's death, and from there he had spiraled into a future his younger self would never have imagined. So why would Temari ignore the fact that he was in pain too? She reacted with anger to these things and he accepted it, yet if he shoved his emotions to the side a bit then she looked at him with disgust.

Shikamaru had carried the burden to her, and she had added on to it. She was probably going to make it worse, barging into Naruto's office and threatening him to let her go off and do who knows what.

"Shit," the man cursed, glaring down at the floor beneath his feet. He had no time to be sulking with nostalgia, he had a troublesome woman to be chasing after. Moments before he had been an empty man but now something was filling up his blank depths as his feet propelled him forward. And like all ninja, Shikmaru Nara made no sound as he jumped onto the rooftops in pursuit of Temari, the first goal of many he had to complete.

⁞⁞⁞

Running up the stairs to the Hokage's residence was an easy feat, no one stopped her or even looked at her twice. Everyone knew who she was, and while Temari at times felt slight animosity towards her direction from other women, she figured it was all because she was Shikamaru's wife. Her easy-going husband was quite the hard worker, often coming late and leaving earlier so much that she had to bring him lunch on too many occasions, worried about his health and if he would pick up Naruto's bad habits of consuming instant ramen like water. If anything, the people she glided past must have assumed she was going to see Shikamaru which was why she could easily barge into Lord Seventh's office, eliciting surprise from the four men inside.

"Who took Shikadai and where are they headed?" The blonde demanded as she stepped into the room and shut the door, placing a hand on her hip in impatience. At this moment, she wasn't worried about if she was being disrespectful or not. She had years of training on how to act properly and the correct protocols to follow, but that would require time and she did not have the time to wait for Konoha's Hokage to finish this meeting with his dimwit friends before seeing her and giving her the valuable information she needed to know.

"Don't worry about it, Temari, it's all under control," Kiba said in a casual tone that didn't quite match his eyes. Temari glowered at him briefly before ignoring him, placing her full attention onto Naruto. They had been discussing Shikadai, she quickly deduced. Good, then they already had the information.

"Is a retrieval team already being sent out or are you waiting to speak to the Tsukikage and let the enemy get further away?" Temari asked, her temper simmering down since Naruto _was_ the Seventh Hokage. Even if he still acted like an idiot, she would never forget the way he aided her against the Third Raikage and the absolute admiration Shikamaru had for this man. Although she rarely admitted to such things, Temari respected Naruto immensely, after all, his wind technique surpassed her own, fourteen years ago at least.

"Temari, I understand your concern for Shikadai, but this is a matter that concerns more than just Konoha. As Hokage, I must respect the other kage and continue to uphold the peace we have all worked so hard for. The Tsukikage and I must discuss these matters so that no rules are broken." Naruto said calmly, if only to diffuse the anger seeping from within Temari. Yet the powerful man tried to shrug off the fact that such a negative swirl of emotions was emitting from her, a vortex of grief and fury rolling into one big ugly beast.

"Don't tell me that bullshit, if Boruto had been taken do you really think you'd be sitting on your ass doing nothing but procedures?" She rebutted, almost lunging forward to strangle Naruto before reconsidering and shaking her head. "Just let me go after him, if I go down then I can get him back before he is even outside this territory."

"No."

"What?"

"Damnit, Temari," Shikamaru opened the door, stepping into the room almost bit haphazardly as he expected fighting to already be happening or his wife already restrained and struggling. It seemed that he had made it just in time, allowing him to indulge in a brief sigh and close his eyes before promptly opening them as metal clanged against the floor.

Temari had gotten into her trademark battle position, knees slightly bent and her upper torso leaning forward as she had opened her large tessen to reveal the first star. Both Kiba and Shino moved in front of the Hokage's desk as she broke the seal to receive her large fan, ready for a fight while Sasuke appeared to be as stoic as ever. Shikamaru on the other hand cursed under his breath knowing that Temari wasn't just challenging the Hokage, she was mocking him. Did she really think she could take him down with her tessen only one third of the way open?

"If you think," She began, steadily raising her voice, "that you could keep me here while my son is out there then you're even dumber than you were as a kid. Whether you give me permission or not, I will not wait at home and let someone else do my job." Her narrowed eyes moved from Kiba to Shino before she smirked. "And I'll take down whoever you send to try to stop me."

"If he said no then that's it," Shikamaru interjected before Naruto could reply, assuming from his wife's words that she planned to go after Shikadai. "You have to obey his orders; it doesn't make sense for you to go anyways."

"I don't care," Still facing Naruto, Temari's muscles quivered slightly.

"You haven't been on a mission in years, there are others better suited for this. They've trained day after day, have the experience, know their own teams and the current generation better than you could. You could hold everyone back." That caused her to turn around and face him, her lips set into an angry line as she glared at him once again. Yet, her eyes held more than just anger, they were freshly damp and Shikamaru realized she was doing her best to not cry. In fact, she wasn't angry, she was frustrated.

"You know that I haven't grown weak," She whispered to him, shaking her head slightly, averting her gaze to the ground before facing Shikamaru with dry eyes. "You're not worried about me, you're worried about what rules could possibly be broken. I was in the Allied Shinobi meetings with you, Shikamaru, I know the consequences. Even so, I can't pick a set of rules over my own flesh and blood!" Temari said passionately, her eyes burning with such ferocious desire that when she turned her teal orbs back to Naruto, Shikamaru had no clue on what to say. There was nothing he could say that wouldn't be a lie, because he felt as she did. While rules dictated his life, he didn't want to blindly stumble upon the part of him that had followed any and every order. The part of him that had, at the time, didn't value human lives as much as he did now. The part of him that believed sacrifice to be necessary.

"You can go," Naruto murmured, meeting Temari's gaze. Instantly, her posture lost the tenacity it had, almost going slack with relief. "But you're going on a team regardless of what you want. Shino has already been assigned to be the team captain, I'll be collecting two other ninja to aid you. I'll contact the Tsukikage and Kazekage on this matter, we'll be needing to keep in touch to make sure that if anything bad does happen, our villages won't be on bad terms. You leave tonight, be prepared." He finished, dismissing her. Temari bowed her head gratefully, trembling a moment before getting down on her knees after folding her fan.

"Thank you."

"There's no need." Naruto replied, sharing a look with Sasuke. It was obvious what they both were thinking, each remembering Kakashi Hatake's words as if they had heard them yesterday: _In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash._ Naruto understood well that Temari would break the rules to go after Shikadai, and would he make the same mistake Lady Tsunade did when he had gone after Kakashi? The situations were both different, but the Hokage couldn't ignore the fact that if a ninja should never abandon a friend, they most definitely shouldn't abandon their child.

"Do you plan on going as well, Shikamaru?" Naruto questioned as Temari stood up, seeing how his friend seemed to be immobile. The sympathy in his deep blue eyes was palpable as he offered the man who vowed to make him hokage a sad smile.

"Tomorrow you have—"

"Forget about that, Shikadai needs you more than I do. Although Temari will be enough if she keeps that attitude, do you want to go?"

Shikamaru looked up at his friend, his hokage, and then looked at everyone else in the room. Why did this feel like such a trick question? Sasuke and Shino were completely unreadable, but both Kiba and Temari gave him such a strange look that the Nara male felt to be under a spotlight. Without thought, he looked up at the ceiling, taking a moment for himself.

"Yeah, I'm going. Wouldn't be a good thing if you started thinking I was disgusting too," He said with a weak chuckle, although his eyes rested on Temari. A tender expression came upon her face, slightly biting the bottom of her lip that told of her worry for the words he had just spoken. She almost felt inclined that she should tell him that not once did she ever thought he was disgusting, but now wasn't the time.

"We leave at eight," Shino informed the couple, walking past them and out the door. "I'll explain more as we start our mission and when all members of the team are present." Simultaneously the married ninja nodded their head, following the bug-user shinobi as Kiba complained to Naruto about not being able to go on the mission. Shikamaru could barely understand the babble, his thoughts already on tonight and what it could hold, almost tripping on the slight lift of a wooden board he had walked over thousands of times before.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two:

Half In and Half Out of the Light

Inside the Hokage's office, Naruto absently shuffled papers around his desk, organizing the files of medical ninja that would accompany the 'Shikadai Retrieval Team' as he had begun to call it inside his head. Still inside his office was Sasuke, his stoic gaze almost boring holes into the Hokage's skin, causing Naruto to shiver. More or less, he knew what Sasuke was thinking, and when his gaze met his best friend's, he shrugged. Sasuke wouldn't lecture him, but Naruto did expect to be chastised just a bit. After all, even he was having second thoughts about letting Temari join in on the team. It was risky in more reasons than one, and as he continued to think about it he only thought of more worst case scenarios. Since when had he became such a pessimist?

"Sasuke," Naruto breathed out, leaning back into his chair as he raised his blue eyes to the ceiling. He got no verbal reply from his friend but that was to be expected. "I made a mistake, huh?"

"Only to be expected from a loser," came Sasuke's breezy reply, still standing as still as a statue. Even now as Hokage Naruto couldn't stand that still as if there was something hardwired in him that caused a need to move. Iruka Sensei had figured that out, and knew that sometimes a better punishment than yelling was to just have Naruto stand still; although that stopped once Naruto became skilled in the art of sleeping while standing. "Your heart always controlled you more than your brain."

"Kakashi Sensei would have done the same thing, I think," Naruto murmured, glancing over at the only ninja that could hold a candle to him before standing up and stretching. The soreness never left, it never would as long as Naruto stuck to his ninja-way. The soreness was something that all shinobi become accustomed to until it was a part of them. As Naruto rolled his shoulders back and cracked his neck, he released another sigh. "It's not like she's going after her brother or a friend, it's her own son. Who knows if she can hold back."

"You aren't worried about Shikamaru?" Sasuke questioned a bit cryptically.

"Why should I be?"

"He has gone on an assassination mission before with the Anbu," The dark haired male pointed out.

"Yeah but he didn't kill Gengo."

"He was prepared to kill him." Naruto made a face at the statement. Despite Sasuke's point, the blonde couldn't picture Shikamaru killing another person. Not because of his attitude but it seemed that Shikamaru couldn't justify killing another person. They never had deep conversations, mostly because of how dense Naruto still was, but Naruto nevertheless could notice a change in a close partner. When Shikamaru began to keep everything strictly about work, Naruto knew that the man was having some sort of problems at home and didn't have the guts to speak about it. If Shikamaru brought up Temari, which was a rare occurrence, Naruto figured that the two of them were on cloud nine, and couldn't help but smirk at his advisor. Everything Shikamaru did was always subtle, but the only other people that could know Shikamaru better than Naruto was his wife and his old teammates. Other than that, most people thought of Shikamaru as just his accomplishments and mild persona. So how could Sasuke know more about him than Naruto?

"Naruto," Sasuke prompted, "If Boruto had been taken instead, would you have the constraint to only get him back?"

"I would bring them in, not kill them, Sasuke."

"You could. Can they? If Shino is right and they have the forbidden scroll, they might have to kill."

"I don't understand what you're trying to say," Naruto retorted, frowning a bit. What did this have to do with Shikamaru? Shino was the leader, he had no doubt that overall that they would ultimately listen to Shino, and the one most likely to do that was Shikamaru. So how did Shikamaru become the problem and what did the scroll have to do with it?

"All I'm saying is to expect casualties. Shikadai may not be the Hokage's son like Boruto, but he's a very important political piece that physically binds Suna and Konoha together." Sasuke finally tore his obsidian gaze from the Hokage to the window, watching the shadows grow with the setting sun. "If they use him for revenge, I'm sure Shikamaru won't hold back. He has the best technique to kill out of the four of them, surely you've seen how easy he can do it."

⁞⁞⁞

The couple wasted no time as they hurried to their home, only to find that they had left the door to their home wide open. They both stood for a moment at their doorstep, eyes simultaneously going wide as they remembered that Temari had previously been cooking. With an exasperated breath, Temari stepped into their home first, rushing to the kitchen. At the string of curse words that left her mouth, Shikamaru knew that she had left the stove on. It was a miracle that their house didn't burn down. At least there was one blessing for the day.

Moving into his home, the man closed the door behind him and entered the kitchen as well, seeing Temari bent over and wiping frantically at the wooden floor with a cloth. The simmering vegetables had been inside a decent sized pot, and the water had boiled over completely, leaving the vegetables to burn against the bottom. The smell was bad and Shikamaru went over to open a window before getting a kitchen towel and helping his wife clean up the mess. They did quick work of it, with Temari throwing out the vegetables and tying up the bag before scrapping the burnt skin with chopsticks under cold water. They continued to remained silent.

For a moment, Shikamaru watched his wife vigorously scrub the pot clean. He pitied the ninja who were foolish enough to take the son of the scariest woman alive.

She had muscles in her arm still, they were almost as taut as the day they met. Shikamaru never knew how heavy his wife's tessen could be until he had picked it up one day as they both did paperwork for the Allied Shinobi Meeting a dozen years or so ago. The nineteen-year-old him had exclaimed playfully that she was going to get a crooked back if she continued carrying it around, prompting her fiery teal gaze and sharp words that he was half the man she thought he was if he couldn't pick up a small fan.

There had never been anything small about her tessen, being that now it was almost five feet long and could stretch to about nine feet wide when fully opened. Yet, Temari carried it with ease, despite its weight comparing to her own. She could also still float upon it with her light weight, just like the day she obliterated TenTen. Shikamaru knew it only worked due to the sandy blonde's strong wind release, otherwise there was no way she could ride it without falling face first to the ground. She was remarkable, and her skill showed in Shikadai.

A prodigy among the Nara clan, Shikamaru couldn't be more proud of his son. He had worried about not spending enough time to help him train, but Temari seemed to cover that base as best as she could. She had been disappointed when it was obvious that Shikadai's nature had none of her wind-release, but didn't give up with his training. If anything, Shikadai was a prodigy because of Temari. He had her creativity, something that Shikamaru lacked. While Shikamaru focused on a singular point, Shikadai focused on a wide range, something only he could have received from his mother as that was her fighting style. He could go from a singular point or encompass many, without having to truly look and see. Not only did he have that aspect down from his mother, he had the same triumphant look Temari had, yet still asked how he did.

"You aren't going after Shikadai in that, are you?" Temari had turned around to face him, yet with being lost in his thoughts, Shikamaru gave his wife a sheepish look. She merely returned it with one of her signature sarcastic playfulness, although her eyes didn't shine. They were just going through the motions. It was hard to pretend to be happy, to pretend everything was okay. As his woman stepped towards him, Shikamaru instinctively put his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest roughly, holding her in their heavy silence.

In their stillness, something snapped. In their silence, something fell but made no noise. There was tension, but for what? There was no snap, no taut string. There was no broken shelf that had things tumbling down. There was nothing, and that frightened him. It frightened him almost as much as the fact that Temari had yet to shed a single tear.

She was not an emotionless robot. Throughout the years, there was an inward sensitivity that came obvious to him as they worked beside each other. He had been much more open to crying than she ever had when they were young. He only hardened up after the Fourth War, and she had broken down her façade little by little. Yet he was a hypocrite for criticizing her lack of tears.

When she pulled away, his dark eyes searched hers briefly, finding grim determination, anguish, and a hard, dryness to them. She wasn't going to cry. Neither was he. Both were resolute in finding their son, and couldn't waste tears on him. If they did, it was like admitting defeat. Or even worse, it was like seeing the end of the tunnel and finding that there never was any light to begin with. The truth had always been hard for them to swallow.

"We need to get ready," Temari whispered, pausing slightly as if she were going to say more. Instead she squeezed him back for a second and then was out of his arms, heading upstairs to their room. Shikamaru followed her and stopped when she did as she looked at the closed door parallel to theirs: Shikadai's room.

"We're going to get him back," He assured her, placing his two large hands on her shoulders as he gave them a slight squeeze of what he hoped was similar enough to reassurance. Yet the ache he felt in his heart throbbed in tandem with her own, causing the couple to once again pause. Empty. They were both empty. Even with the thought of rescuing Shikadai, they couldn't deny the all-consuming emptiness that sucked the life out of them. "Just focus on the task at hand," Shikamaru added, knowing the only thing that could help them was work. With a stiff nod of her head, she moved forward, her steps heavy.

Shikamaru wasn't sure what hurt most: the loss of his son or seeing his beloved react to their loss.

Quickly shaking his head, Shikamaru vowed to never use the term 'loss' when relating to his son. It only sickened him further at the aspect that he could assume they weren't getting Shikadai back.

However, optimism could only hurt later in the future whereas pessimism allowed him to consider all angles. This was essential, they both didn't know who could have taken Shikadai and for what purpose. If the attackers originally wanted Boruto, was it to use it against Konoha or the Hokage? If they took Shikadai, would they only threaten Konoha or would they discover that he was related to the great Kazekage of Suna?

The couple once again began maneuvering around their room, deftly collecting what they needed and changing into their desired uniform. Shikamaru was putting on the traditional gear of a Konaha ninja while Temari began to put on her layers of clothing. He watched her like he had before in the kitchen although his fingers were moving as they first undressed him and began to clothe him. He finished before her as he only wore a pair of dark pants and shirt, a green flak jacket going on top. Temari was still tying up the back on her lavender, sleeveless kimono-style long shirt that went over a short dark plum dress. A pair of mesh armor shorts went down to her mid thighs and she also supported the same mesh armor shirt beneath the dress. Tying the shirt together with a navy-blue sash, she placed her fan inside of it comfortably as she also swapped out her original sandals for a black pair that went up to her mid-calf.

The blonde slid on a pair of black fingerless gloves and grabbed two small satchels, going over to an area of the room that the couple held their kunai, shuriken and other ninja goods. Shikamaru instead grabbed a knapsack, and went to the bathroom, opening a cabinet and collecting special healing salves and bandages. Once he entered the master bedroom, Temari gave him a nod of her head that said she was ready. He gave her a half grin, catching the dark blue weapon holder she tossed to him; taking a line of bandage wraps from his bag as he sat on the bed. He went through the motions: hands quickly wrapping the bandage and tying it perfectly on his right thigh before clasping the small satchel around it. He stood up and shrugged the small backpack onto his back, scratching the back of his head.

Temari was as prepared as Shikamaru, her weapons case tied around her waist, slightly hidden beneath her sash.

"Ready?" The Nara head asked her.

"I am, but," She said, moving towards Shikamaru with a serious look. "You're going to lose this, y'know." She informed him, pulling his necklace off from his neck, standing on the tips of her toes and she guided the chain in a way so it wouldn't get caught on his hair. The blonde briefly fingered the silver wedding band, a small yet radiant, genuine smile playing upon her lips. She turned her back to Shikamaru as she placed the necklace on top of their shared dresser, still touching the band fondly. "Okay, now, we can go." She said once she had finished her reminiscence, turning towards her husband yet again.

"After you," Shikamaru said with a sweep of his hand to gesture the door out of the room. Temari followed suit with his direction and headed out with her husband behind her, placing both hands in his pockets. This time it was him who paused at the top of the stairs, sad eyes watching the door parallel to his own, wishing that it would open to greet him with a pair of eyes and expression like his mother, but hair and posture that could only mimic his father. When the door didn't open, Shikamaru began to descend the stairs, a few steps behind Temari.


	4. Chapter Three

_Author's Note: First, I'd like to thank everyone who has favorited and followed this story thus far, especially since the previous chapters have been so dry. Second, I just want to say that I'm using everything from the manga to the anime to the movies and to the light novels. I understand that not everyone considers it to be canon but oh well, there are parts in the light novels that I think are detrimental overall and the anime gives Temari so much more screen time and power so I'm rolling with it. Once again, thank you._

Chapter Three:

Mountains are Mountains.

It was no surprise that they were early, and it only became more evident as the seconds ticked by, causing both Shikamaru and Temari to become impatient. If possible, they both would have gone out to follow Shikadai's captors instead of waiting for Shino and whoever else was on their team. It left them to think about whatever crossed their mind and further distress Temari. Shikamaru knew it was better not to point out that she was subtly pacing back and forth a few steps before stopping and looking up at the sky with a sigh. Then she would tug lightly on her clothing, trail her fingers along the sleek metal of her fan and glance down the road in hopes of seeing Shino arriving. When it was clear that he wasn't going to arrive at that moment, she would start the process all over again.

Despite her having years of being cool under serious pressure, the only time she fidgeted was because she was idle. There was no reason for Shikamaru to point this out to her, it would only embarrass her and make her frustrated, and possibly set their mission off on a bad note. While Temari began her routine yet again, Shikamaru stopped watching her to glance over the road, wondering if he should have told his mother about the issue. No doubt she would find out when their house was completely empty, or at least she would figure out that both Temari and Shikamaru were away on a mission. After that, he could picture her "stopping by" Ino's home to inquire about the location of her son and grandson. He was almost positive that Yoshino wouldn't worry about Temari too much, seeing as how their relationship was still as strained as it was in the beginning.

Temari abruptly stopped pacing, making Shikamaru zoned in on the two figures making their way towards them. One was most definitely Shino with the loose-fitting jacket and tall stature, the second figure was hard to guess on who it was. Even when they came into sight and Shikamaru could tell that it was a female accompanying Shino, he was still unable to recognize her. That was until he realized her face was not framed by a tuft of false fur on a hood, but that it was her own dark hair that gave an appearance of a lion's mane. Briefly closing his eyes and scratching the back of his head, her name popped into his mind.

She had graduated from the academy roughly five years ago, if his memory served him right, and was considered a very bright medical-nin. She had been very studious at the academy and only managed to become a chunin due to her exceptional skill in forcing her opponent to waste their chakera completely and weaken themselves for her. Offensively, she didn't leave much of an impression when it came to mission reports, but Shikamaru knew that she offered good support and leadership, eventually making her a jonin. She had a good mind and would be useful for this mission, especially if Shikadai had any injuries. Shikamaru sent a silent prayer of thanks to Naruto's direction.

"Shikamaru, Temari," Shino said to each of them once they were all a few feet from each other. "This is Megumi Hayashida, the medical ninja who is joining us."

"I am so sorry about your son," Megumi said solemnly, a minor frown on her tan skin. While Temari avoided eye contact at the statement, Shikamaru nodded his head towards her. Although it had roughly been three years since he last saw her, she hadn't changed much. She was as petite and thin as ever, with wild hair and soft gray eyes. She had tied her hair up as much as possible with nine tufts of hair sprouting out from her head, a perpetually messy halo that did little to tame the crazy mass. If anything, it caused her to look younger as if she still were only twelve years old. This must have been why so many of her opponents always underestimated her, and why she could come out on top in the previous situations she had been in.

"We'll get him back," Shino said stiffly, looking over his teammates. "For this mission, Lord Seventh wants to make clear that we are not to kill anyone despite their crimes. Based on evidence I have collected on the scene and the testimonials from the genin that were present, we are likely dealing with the Kamizuru clan. That's because they used bees, hornets and wasps during the attack. Only two were sighted, both males. We can't know for sure if they're the only ones involved or if they are working for a higher power. It was assumed that the last of the Kamizuru clan were deceased, a long time ago Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, Lord Seventh and I dealt with them successfully. If we run into them, remember that they don't use hand seals for a summoning, instead they stick their right thumb into the palm of their left hand." Shino paused, not to catch his breath but to make sure everyone understood the severity of that statement.

"They are heading in the direction of Iwa," he added, "But don't expect an easy trail to follow. That's because they used two large bees as their means of getting away, any clue we find will be small. As of right now, we'll need to catch up to them. Any questions?"

Neither of the three listening ninja made any inclination to speak, all of them having been on enough missions to understand the basic, unsaid rules. This had been drilled into them as children, much like how their footsteps would never make noise or how to find poison with a single lick.

"Very well, then," Shino began, walking forward before pausing to look through the gates. "If there aren't any questions then there is no need to stand around. Let's go." Three simultaneous nods followed that statement, each taking a few steps before the voice of a child stopped them.

The three adults easily turned their heads towards the voice, recognizing the voice instantly. As fast as he could, Inojin Yamanaka was running just ahead of his mother, Ino. Their fair hair took on the dull violet of the darkening sky with Ino's looking like a whip of stardust. Upon reaching them, before even catching his breath, Inojin held out two bundles wrapped in a chic, floral designed cloth that most definitely belonged to his mother with its vibrant colors. Temari couldn't help but make a face, never having been a fan of Ino's fashion sense even years later down their friendship. The former sand kunoichi could never appreciate such gaudy things, but could appreciate the fact that Ino did an excellent job in cleaning up her son's wounds, the color of fresh, pink skin being a stark contrast of the paper-white skin of his hands and face.

"Please, take these," Inojin breathed out, unable to fully look his best friend's parents in the eye. "I can't go save Shikadai with you, but I promise! I promise that when he comes back I'll be stronger, I'll protect him next time!" Inojin cried out, his pale green eyes shining with vibrant passion as he made his vow. "So here, Mom helped me to make these and there's enough for all of you and Shikadai, I know he's hungry because he split his lunch with me and, I mean, I'm sorry." The genin rambled anxiously, glancing at his mother for help who only looked at Shikamaru with a sense of empathetic pity. Shikamaru opened his mouth to speak but Temari beat him to it.

"Shikadai is lucky to have you as a friend," The sandy blonde said, stepping forward to take the bundles, holding both within one hand so she could gently ruffle up Inojin's hair. "Thank you, Inojin." Temari said sweetly. How many times had Shikadai stayed the night at the Yamanaka's? How many times had Inojin stayed the night at their own home? Temari was obvious when it came to her fondness of Inojin, telling Shikamaru more than a dozen times that he was so polite and motivated. He was good for Shikadai. Even though he had been healed, Temari knew that Inojin had given his all to save his best friend and it vanquished the spiders that had begun to crawl around her empty heart.

Shikamaru came by her side, grinning at Inojin if only to bring him more comfort, taking the bundles from his wife's hand. Ino placed her hands onto Inojin's shoulders, looking down at him with a faint smile. She had never been the best at disguising her emotions, even now Shikamaru could see the worry that glazed over her eyes.

"Thank you." Shikamaru murmured, mainly to catch Ino's eye. "We'll be back soon with Shikadai in tow, there's no need to worry." He had addressed this mainly for Ino's benefit but his dark gaze did glide down to meet Inojin's hopeful look before looking back at Shino.

"Let's go," Temari said, knowing that these few minutes, while precious in the sense of relieving Inojin of his guilt, was also precious in catching up to the Kamizuru ninja. Shikamaru nodded his head, quickly sliding his russack off his back to place the bundles of food securely inside them. The bottom of them was still warm, yet the thought of food didn't have him feel anything but a bittersweet sickness.

"Shikamaru, Temari, good luck! I'll take care of Yoshino for you two," Ino called to them, offering both a small smile of assurance. Shikamaru sighed, his mother was going to be a hassle when they got back. He could already picture her criticizing Temari about it, most likely stating that if she had listened to her about this or that then Shikadai would have never been kidnapped in the first place. Briefly waving to the cries of good-byes from the two Yamanaka members, the squad of four finally walked out through Konoha's grand gate and immediately took to the trees.

Shino set the pace for them, a fast one that sent the four ninja bounding through the forest. Shikamaru and Temari were both behind him, nearly side by side while Megumi brought up the rear, having them create a standard diamond pattern. Shikamaru was a bit surprised that Temari was easily keeping up as if she had never stopped training even once. Although that was to be expected as she had helped in training both Mirai and Shikadai. The thought of Mirai, who still regarded him as her big brother, brought memories of Asuma. Shikamaru couldn't help the dark thoughts that ensued.

All the work he did for the Allied Shinobi Forces to create a world that would ultimately protect the future generations of the village, and his son still couldn't be protected. He knew that he couldn't protect Shikadai from everything, that there would always be some evil force to rise again and try heinous deeds. If it wasn't one thing, it was the other. He just never thought that he would be going on a retrieval mission, especially not one that was almost too reminiscent of the retrieval of Sasuke Uchiha. It was almost too familiar with Shino and Temari being a part of the team, and that pinprick of guilt sullied his mood even further. It was hard to look back on that mission, and it was even harder to let go years down the line, and with Sasuke being a good guy again. It had such a profound impact on him still; Shikamaru would not be where he was today without that mission.

It was the loss of his innocence that threw him onto a new path. The loss of Asuma, the loss of his father, the loss of his friend Neji and so many other ninja. What would the temporary loss of his son bring him? Shikamaru could only hope that that loss would be temporary. If it was permanent, even he who could plan nearly five hundred moves ahead of his opponent couldn't predict the first thing he'd do or even feel upon finding out something as gruesome as his son completely being stolen away from him.

"Stop," Shino commanded, breaking Shikamaru out of his reverie and halting the ninja behind him. Shikamaru looked around, straining his ears, waiting to sense something. Temari and Megumi did the same but after a minute of standing battle ready on the thick tree branches, neither of them could sense anything. Shikamaru deduced that if Shino sensed something, it was because of the bugs. Whether it was Shino's own hybrid beetles or the critters around them, he had no clue.

"Nevermind, let's go." Shino said, about ready to take off again before Temari gave a huff of annoyance.

"Wait up, what just happened, why did we stop?"

"I thought I heard a bee." Shino replied, not even bothering to glance back at the blonde.

"Wouldn't a bee be useful to us if we're following after bug users who predominantly use bees to attack?" Temari retorted, crossing her arms.

"No. This bee was different. It's dead now. Take a look for yourself," Shino said and moved on without another word. With another huff, Temari sprang after him and Shikamaru followed as well, not wanting to lose sight of either of them in the night. The man did glance back to make sure Megumi was following them before looking ahead, easily covering the distance of a couple hundred meters before seeing the two still figures of Shino and Temari.

The sight before them easily stopped Shikamaru in his tracks as he came to stand between them, gaping at the bee that Shino had mentioned. Through his years of a ninja, Shikamaru had seen many things, and he couldn't say anything was as disturbing as the giant bee ripping off its own tongue and mandibles. The mutated insect was at least thirty feet tall and had destroyed acres of the lush forest in an attempt to mutilate itself. Its papery wings were crushed and stuck out in unsavory angles while eight of it's legs stomped about, further breaking the trees apart, as the two front legs continued to dig deep inside the gaping hole where it's tube-like tongue had once been.

"What the hell is _that_?" Temari exclaimed after a moment before the bee broke one of its antennae.

"An experiment," Shino announced in a low voice filled with disgust. "Inside of its body are millions upon millions of bees, hornets, wasps, eating it from the inside. That's because they're blood thirsty. It's like the kidaichu, the beetles used in my clan's Parasitic Destruction Insect Technique. Except, no, it can't be," Shino mumbled, shaking his head before growing stiff.

"It's a trap." Shikamaru stated, unable to take his eyes off the beast. As if his words were the signal, the giant bee collapsed onto the ground right as hordes of insects burst through its body like a grotesque party popper. The deep crack of a hard exoskeleton and wax being broken apart was similar to that of a bone snapping in half and it caused Megumi to mildly flinch. The drone of their wings was almost deafening as they continued to rise, swirling up like a massive black cyclone. The beating of their wings produced small gales that blew against the ninja. However, that was hardly the worst of it, as it became evident that the cyclone began to dwindle due to the insects devouring each other, nonetheless leaving a plethora of hornets twice the size of a normal human.

In response, Temari removed her huge fan from her belt, a spark of malicious resolution setting upon her eyes. Shino on the other hand began to release his beetles from the pores of his skin, a quivering resemblance of black smoke curling around his neck and risks like a hungry hound licking it's chops. Shikamaru cursed inside his head, hoping that the moon would provide enough light regardless of the fact that night had barely fallen and the moon was still climbing the sky. He heard the familiar clink of metal as Megumi pulled out three kunai. He doubted the kunai would do much of anything if these insects had an exoskeleton similar to the large bee at all, but figured it could be a decent distraction, grabbing a kunai from his own supply before Shino gave them the signal to spread out and attack.


End file.
